Samsung emphasizes user-focused approach to AI

The Korean electronics giant said that humans stand at the center of its AI development, directing focus to safety and security along with utility.

Panels hold discussions at AI media forum titled Salon d'AI held by Samsung Electronics in Paris on Thursday. [SHIM SEO-HYUN]

Samsung Electronics highlighted the importance of human-centric AI and an open ecosystem in making AI available to more people.

The electronics giant held an AI media forum titled "Salon d'AI" in Paris on Thursday, attended by executives from Google and Qualcomm, key partners behind Galaxy AI.

"In the center of Samsung Electronics' innovation stands humans," said Choi Won-joon, the company's executive vice president responsible for the Mobile eXperience division, at the conference.

"It is most important for mobile AI to be developed with users in the center and make a meaningful difference in the users' life."

Samsung earlier this year introduced the world's first AI smartphone, the Galaxy S24, and brought an upgraded version of the AI to the most recently launched Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6. By making select features available in the previous Galaxy series through software updates, Galaxy AI is now deployed on some 100 million devices. The company plans to expand the number to 200 million by the end of this year.

The development process of "Circle to search," a key AI feature of Galaxy AI created in collaboration with Google, was also unveiled at the forum.

The U.S. tech giant first suggested enabling the search feature anywhere on the screen, an idea that was well-received by the team at Samsung, said executive vice president Choi.

"By merging the expertise that Samsung has in understanding users and Google has in search, such an outstanding search experience was made possible after intense discussion and co-designing," Choi said.

Personal data security was also one of the topics discussed at the forum, and Samsung emphasized what's called "hybrid AI" where both on-device and cloud-based AI are utilized depending on user preference.

On-device AI is when the data is processed within the device, which offers no risk of personal data leakage, whereas cloud-based AI needs an internet connection to share the data with the cloud.

"Mobile AI should take the form of hybrid AI where on-device and cloud technology are both utilized for usability and practicality," said Kim Dae-hyun, head of Samsung Research Global AI Center, at the forum.

"We cannot jeopardize a user's private life while offering the best AI experience, so we are giving them the option to choose between on-device or cloud when using AI."

Samsung Electronics also announced the result of a survey done with Goldsmiths, University of London on the effect of mobile AI on users' lives that was conducted on 5,000 people from Korea, the United States, Britain, Germany and France.

People who use mobile AI were found to be 1.4 times more likely to rate their quality of life as higher than those who do not use it, according to the survey.

Samsung Electronics is known to pursue partnerships in new technology, unlike its rival Apple.

The Korean company said the previous day that it plans to unveil an XR platform within this year through a partnership with Google and Qualcomm, postponing the launch of the actual device.

BY SHIM SEO-HYUN, JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]